Ball: Reader missed the point of his letter

Monday

Nov 5, 2012 at 6:58 PMNov 5, 2012 at 6:59 PM

In Bob Wichner’s Oct. 23 critique of my letter (Oct. 18) about the Iranian nuclear program, he takes issue with the conclusion by the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment report to Congress this year that “Iran has no known military nuclear program, with no likely intention to initiate one, and claiming otherwise would be spurious and inflammatory.”

To the Editor:

In Bob Wichner’s Oct. 23 critique of my letter (Oct. 18) about the Iranian nuclear program, he takes issue with the conclusion by the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment report to Congress this year that “Iran has no known military nuclear program, with no likely intention to initiate one, and claiming otherwise would be spurious and inflammatory.” CIA chief Gen. Petraeus and the Joint Chief’s Gen. Dempsey endorsed the report.

Given this information, President Obama is leading an international coalition pursuing sanctions and diplomacy, both showing signs of success, to force Iran to comply with the nonproliferation treaty. Gov. Romney, on the other hand, told Prime Minister Netanyahu he would support a preemptive strike on the dozens of Iranian enrichment sites with U.S. firepower.

The purpose of my letter was to make the distinction between the two approaches. We all have the best interests of Israel (and the world!) at heart. As I noted in my letter, Meir Dagan, ex-chief of Israel’s Mossad (their CIA), said a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be “reckless and irresponsible, one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard.” He also said that “retaliation could be a rain of 50,000 missiles on Israel. As for war, you know how it starts, but you never know how you are ending it.” A David Remnick article in the New Yorker (Sept. 3) also elaborates on reasons why Dagan and other Israeli intelligence and military brass are squarely opposed to Netanyahu’s proposed bombing campaign, as are 70 percent of all Israelis.

Bob’s assertion that my letter (which addresses the nuclear program) implies that Iran has no intention of attacking Israel, is wrong. I am very upset that he claims it “trivializes all Jews’ concern for Israel.” It is just the opposite.